I just published a text in AM called Arab Agendas. Looking at this now, I realise that the one thing I didn’t have time to address in the feature is technology and its relationship to the visual agenda.
It feels banal to spell out so bluntly, but technological interfaces have shifted the manner in which we interact. To reference ‘Arab Agendas’ (AM 353), it seems that no example is better than the case of the Egyptian revolutionary dissidence of 2011. The story of how Twitter and Facebook were used as rallying platforms has been expounded upon in considerable detail by various news outlets. A fascination here was undeniably how such a prolific use of technology could manifest, especially in a developing country. This brings us to Giles Deleuze’s assertions of technology being a socialising force. In the case of the Egyptian revolution, this socialisation, also led to a heightened case of audience/participant appropriation. Take for example, the assassination of the media artist, Ahmed Basiony, who was shot by a sniper with a bullet to the head on the 28th of January 2011, whilst protesting in Tahrir Square.
